Chicago, IL – The final pieces of steel have been delivered to the fabrication shop!! Six of the eight trusses have been fabricated and are ready to be primed and painted. Trusses No. 7 & No. 8 start fabrication next week. The delivery date to the Shrine is scheduled for the first full week of March!

CHICAGO, IL – Canon Matthew Talarico and A Elizabeth Ortner made a visit to Daprato Rigali Studios this week. It was a visit full of wonderful surprises! Daprato Rigali is one of the companies that is being interviewed for the restoration of the windows and the creation of the stained glass. It is a family owned company with a long history, including a history with St. Clara/St. Gelasius. The photos below were provided to us from their archive. It is of a May Day celebration in the 1950’s when the Shrine was the National Shrine of St. Therese of Lisieux.

There is a statue in the 1950’s photo of St. Elias. To our surprise, this statue was at the Daprato Rigali Studio! Thank you, Bob Rigali, for the wonderful visit.

CHICAGO, IL – Truss No. 4 is in fabrication. This is a huge milestone, as we are now more than halfway done with completing all the steel fabrication!

Just to note, in previous updates as well as this update, when a Truss is mentioned all the miscellaneous steel that is attached to that truss is also being fabricated. The focus is on the large trusses, but all the smaller steel pieces, purlins, plates and angles are also being fabricated along with each truss.